Ontario Votes Today

Today, the province of Ontario votes for a new premier. Either that, or they’ll be voting to keep the current premier, Dalton McGuinty, who represents the Liberal party. He’ll be up against some stiff competition in Tim Hudak of the Progressive Conservatives and Andrea Horwath of the New Democratic Party.

And while we, here at Synergy, do not wish to publicly endorse any specific candidate, we definitely wish to endorse your right to vote. It’s important to keep in mind that, as a Canadian (and in this case, Ontarian), your ability to vote is a privilege. Not voting indicates that you have no voice – which is certainly not the case.

Canada made its collective voice loud and clear this past May during the federal election which saw Stephen Harper’s Progressive Conservatives earn a majority government. Meanwhile, the late Jack Layton’s NDP became the official opposition for the first time in the nation’s history. It is yet to be seen if the weakening support for the Liberal party will have an affect on Premier McGuinty’s campaign.

Earlier this week, Terry Davidson of The Toronto Sun reported that the Liberal party was actually gaining support based on a recent Abacus Data poll. He wrote that the poll’s numbers indicated that McGuinty had 37 per cent of the vote from decided voters compared to 34 per cent for Hudak.

When it came to undecided voters, 40 per cent said that they would “very likely” vote Liberal while 35 per cent favoured the vote for the PC. On television, campaign ads for Tim Hudak strongly challenged McGuinty’s position on taxes, highlighting that that the current premier has broken promises to not raise or introduce new taxes.

David Coletto, the CEO of Abacus Data, questions if the PC campaign is working. Said Coletto: “Over the last few days, people’s attitudes have shifted or firmed up. There’s a general sense that even though McGuinty probably has some faults, he’s a better alternative than Tim Hudak. People didn’t trust (Hudak) enough…(He) hasn’t inspired that many people to get on board their train.”

Today, however, Ontarians will take to the polls to cast their official votes to determine who should be in charge of running the province. Be sure to make your voice heard by voting for the candidate that you feel would best serve Ontario’s best interests. By tomorrow, we will all know how that person will be.